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Flours, Starches, & Thickeners – A to Z

Arepa Flour is a refined, pre-cooked corn flour (“harina de maiz refinada, precocida”.) It is not the same as the masa harina that is used in Mexico; for Arepa Flour, large-kerneled corn is used that has large, starchy endosperms, making for a starchier flour than that which is used for tortillas.

Banana flour, due to the use of green bananas, has a very mild banana flavour raw and, when cooked, it has an earthy non-banana flavour; it also has a texture reminiscent of lighter wheat flours and requires about 25% less volume, making it a good replacement for white and white whole wheat flour.

[su_tabs style=”modern-blue”] [su_tab title=”Cream of Tartar”] Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula KC4H5O6, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking it is known as cream of tartar. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic acid).

Potassium bitartrate crystallizes in wine casks during the fermentation of grape …

Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains or roots and used to make many different foods. Cereal flour is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history.

There are a number of flours used in our recipes or referenced in our world cuisine pages. This is the sub-index for the flours that we have listed in the glossary. Included are information, availability, substitutions, and nutrition, wherever possible.

Peanut flour is a versatile cooking ingredient, and can be used together with or instead of almond and coconut flour. Peanut flour has one quarter of the fat of regular peanuts, which makes it a perfect ingredient for your low fat cooking and baking.

Potato flour is a flour which is produced from potatoes which have been cooked, dried, and then ground potatoes. It is commonly confused with, but is different than, potato starch flour which is made only from the starch of a potato.

In cooking, potato starch is often considered a substitute thickener for cornflour or white flour. However, it has a higher heat point than cornflour, so it may be superior for certain foods that require high temperatures.

For people who are not making Latin American food, the primary reason to use tapioca flour is that it is gluten free. It can be used in recipes for cakes, biscuits, and other dishes, either on its own or in combination with other gluten-free flours. The flour has a coarse, mealy texture and a nutty flavour with a faint hint of acidity that can be quite distinctive

Teff Flour is a pleasingly light, uniquely flavoured, 100% whole grain flour. Ethiopian households have been using teff flour in their baking for ages. Teff is a fine grain — about the size of a poppy seed — that comes in a variety of colours, from white and red to dark brown.